Fairy Tail: The Sequel
by Roman32
Summary: This is the continuation to Tyoung32's story. Something happened to the profile, not allowing me to post there anymore. I'll pick off from where I left of course. and enjoy. The previous chapters are still on Tyoung32 if you wish to re read 1-10.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 11: The Angel, The Pharaoh, and The Ghost

"What was that light!?" Luke Cloud asked from the outside. He stood around with the once frenzied war zone as the entire council stronghold shook on it's foundation until the light disappeared.  
"I know exactly what it is.." Ceaser says, just loud enough for Jaxon, who stood beside him now to hear. "Well, what was it?" The weather mage asked him. "The fact you don't know what that light is, shows that your guild doesn't know much about your own guild mate, Kairi, but now isn't the time for that shorty." Ceaser then pointed to the Blue Pegasus ship. "Everyone needs to get off the island, right now!"  
"Kairi?"Jaxon looked back at Ceaser, unsure of how to respond to his statement.  
"What's going on!?" Elfman yelled in confusion.  
"Everything doesn't need answers! Especially when we don't have time for them!" Taranis yelled.  
"It's obvious that Taranis knows too. So what do they know about Kairi that we don't?" These thoughts rushed through Waiston's head, yet he couldn't put them together no matter how hard he tried.  
"I could stop her...maybe. But...-"  
"Ceaser!" Ceaser's thoughts were stopped immediately as Evanee yelled from the roof. She too knew what was happening, so she do use her voice towards the moronic mage. "I know what your thinking, and...not yet. Wait for my signal!"  
Ceaser hesitated, even nervously shook a little, but he then nodded.  
"You have knowledge of what's going on, so fill us in!" Rizu shouted towards the Twilight Zone ace. Evanee calmly turned to the head Council Warden. "Calm down. That giant beam of light.. Was a takeover."  
"A takeover? That's what we're fearing?"  
"Don't be ignorant." Evanee continued. "This is no ordinary takeover. Each takeover has a form that defies the strength of all other forms. Think of the takeovers you know so far."  
Siegrain began counting. "Well, to my knowledge, there's the beast, Angel, demon, and ancient takeover that your buddy down there has."  
Rizu then added. "And we have a prisoner who knows warrior takeover."  
Evanee nodded. "Right. Now, whether they've learned it or not, they all have a takeover that's far more powerful then anything in their arsenal. But till this day...no one's successfully controlled it. The takeover takes a mind of it's own, so the nature of that takeover becomes the host, and nine times out of ten... It isn't a good natured soul."  
"So..." Siegrain looked at the hole in the roof, squinting to try to depict who was in there. He spotted Kairi, but couldn't tell who she was holding. "Oh...it's the angel girl. Yeah she looks a lot different."  
"Now would be a good time for everyone to evacuate." Evanee replies. Siegrain scoffed. "No one on this force is evacuating!"  
"Don't be an idiot!" Rylo yelled back. "She's going to kill everyone here!"  
Siegrain looked over at the magician, and gave a grin, as well as a shrug. Evanee watched his actions, then clenched her fists in annoyance and frustration. "Do you not care!? Everyone, including your men are going to die!"  
"Soldiers are expendable, Evanee." Siegrain folded his arms as he walked to the edge of the tower. "The only thing hard to replace are my captains, and as you see, they are fine."  
Before Evanee could move a muscle, with maiming the council leader on her mind, another loud explosion was heard. This time, as the stronghold shook, a giant beam of light and dark energy fire from out from the side of the stronghold. The giant beam traveled from the stronghold, all the way off the island and halfway across the ocean. Everyone watched in shock and awe at the beam until it finally dispersed. Once it did, a lone figure was seen falling towards the ground. His body was completely ruined. The only thing that was noticeable, was his blonde hair. Siegrain's eyes widened once he realized who was falling. "Correll!"  
Everyone was on the edge of the tower at this time as they watched the blonde haired captain fall. It was evident that he was already dead, and once his body hit the ground, the rest of the council did nothing but stare with mortified expressions.  
"Captain Correll...!" One of the councilmen of the stronghold, Trace, yelled. He couldn't believe what he just saw.  
Evanee was the first to snap out of it. She yelled for Ceaser again.  
"Ceaser! We need you!"  
"R-right!" The cinnamon haired mage created a magic circle under his feet. The seal began to spin rapidly. "Okay Ceaser..you have five minutes. You can do this. Shorty is counting on you!" After giving himself a small pep talk, Ceaser erupted into a roar as a giant beam of light, similar to Kairi's shot up around him, and into the sky. His torso was now bare chested, except he now wore a tight, black, sleeveless open chest hoody with his hood over his head perfectly covering his eyes that now glowed red. On his wrist were golden braces that fit tightly and every finger except the thumb had a ring on them. His lower body was covered by a cloth, the front of the cloth longer than the rest, and was held up by a golden cross belt with a black jewel in the middle. His feet wore normal sandals and just like his wrist, his ankles had on tight golden braces. Ceaser now stood in his strongest takeover, Anubis. The countdown began in Evanee's head. Ceaser had five minutes before he lost control. He then leaped into the hole that Kairi created with one spring of his legs.  
"Wait...now there's two monsters unleashed in there!?" Ultear asked as she looked through the roof hole cautiously.  
"Ceaser has made amazing improvement on his takeover. He can control his for five minutes, and for such a takeover, that an amazing feat." Rylo's reassurance wasn't enough as Lahar, and Doranbolt first phased over to Ultear, and then to Siegrain. "We're ready when you are sir." Lahar says, as the three of them stood in front of him, waiting. Siegrain looked at all three of them, then nodded. "Stay ready, we're going to see how this plays out."

Odin, Layanna, and Valry all stood on the second floor. Oracion Seis was in a bruised mess, once again in handcuffs. Valry wiped her chin, scowling as she looked down on them. "You clowns were closer to escaping last time. You had Fairy Tail help and you couldn't even make it out. Speaking of Fairy Tail.." Valry turned her attention to a beaten down Natsu, being held up by Levy and Lucy. "I'll admit, you really put a hurt on this kid, even though you ganged up on him."  
No one from the opposing side said a word, as Oracion Seis all sat on the ground, hands cuffed behind their backs. But then, Cobra's ears perked. He didn't say anything, but he heard something familiar. A small grin slowly etched upon his face as he whispered. "So you are around?"  
Odin had his attention directed to the shaking. "We should probably get out of here. Valry you can escort them back into their cells I'm sure. You four..." He pointed to the Fairy Tail mages. "Follow us out."

Kairi was walking towards the hole in the wall she created, until Ceaser appeared in front of her, leaping through the hole itself.  
"Shorty, can you hear me?" His voice was normal, signifying that it was still Ceaser. He then took a step forward, causing the hostile angel takeover to do the same. "Calm down, I don't want to fight, but you have to fight your takeover. I know you're in there."  
He took another step forward, and immediately Kairi held her palms out to her side, rotating them to create small circles in the air. This caused two magic seals to form above the opponents head; one gold, for light magic, and one purple, for darkness magic. Once created, the two seals simultaneously rained down raw magic onto Ceaser. "Fall of Heavens." Her voice rung, though it wasn't her voice at all. As Ceaser covered up to shield himself from the light and shadow magic that rained upon him, he took note of Kairi's voice, coming to the conclusion that she was completely gone. Once Kairi's attack stopped, and the smoke cleared, Ceaser stood there, a few bruises on his body. His new body gave him a stronger defense as well, but now wasn't the time to admire the upgrade Anubis gave him. "It's the hard way then!" Ceaser yelled as he slammed his hand on the ground. Suddenly, the entire floor, or what was left of it, turns into ash, leaving the hallways completely floor-less. Kairi quickly began to hover as the floor disappeared. She quickly charged Ceaser, her right fist reared back. Before she could land her right hook, the ashes that were just created began to spin around him, like a protective tornado. Kairi swung her punch, only to have it reach in a stalemate against the spinning ashes. The ashes then wrapped around Kairi's arm, tightened it's grip and then flung her out the hole she created earlier. Kairi crashed into the ground, and everyone scattered, giving the angel takeover space, mostly because they didn't want to become a victim. Before she could stand, Ceaser leaped out of the tower as well, landing right on top of her and pinning her to the ground face first.  
"Kairi!" Aira yelled, but as much as she wanted to help her, Kuro grabbed her by her arm, shaking his head no to calm her. "She'll kill you.."  
Pinned down, but not out, Kairi struggled a bit, but then placed her palms on the ground, causing a gold/purple seal to form beneath her and Ceaser. The result of this attack was a violent vortex of Light and Darkness magic that ruthlessly assault them both. "Hell Bringing Light."  
The vortex sent them both flying upward into the air, well above the tower due to the immense power behind the attack. Ceaser was able to recover, however, he didn't have wings like Kairi did. He was now a sitting duck it seemed as Kairi now recovered too. She used her wings to straighten herself up, and then swooped towards the Anubis takeover. In the blink of an eye, she slammed a hard left uppercut to Ceaser's gut. She then followed with a barrage of punches, all infused with light and dark magic. The punches landed all over the face and body of the ancient takeover with no hesitation. As her final blow to end the combination, she reared her right hand back, and palmed Ceaser's face with force. Kairi pushed him into the earth beneath him violently. The back of his head hit first, the rest of his body following as a well sized crater was made. There was a few seconds of awe inspiring silence. Everyone stood well away from the two. That silence was finally broken, as a giant explosion of dark magic towered into the sky. Kairi was spotted flying once again as she looked down at the crater, the smoke filling the giant hole in the ground.  
"I...I can't even comprehend what's going on..." Luke said as he trembled.  
"So this is a true takeover fight?" Alexander asked himself. "This is what it looked like back in ancient times? I don't know if Lucifer and Anubis ever fought, but we're getting the best example right now. That is..."  
Alexander looked back at the smoky crater. "If Ceaser isn't already out.."  
"One minute left..." Evanee said to herself so she wouldn't alarm everyone else who was too occupied with watching. "This wasn't a good idea. If we can't stop one, how will we stop both of them?"  
Kairi continued to hover, looking down at the crater. Before the smoke could clear, the ground around the crater began to turn to ash. The mages around the crater continuously backed away to stay away from the ashes. The enormous radius of ashes then began to spin counterclockwise. Once the smoke cleared, Ceaser was seen standing in the eye of the whirlpool of ashes. The grey grains began to rise above him, and with an outward thrust of his arm, the heavily damaged Anubis take over unraveled the whirlpool of ashes, re shaping them into a drill as they hurled towards Kairi. She easily countered by cupping her hands together, then thrusting them forward to fire off another enormous beam of light and dark magic. The two attacks collide, creating yet another shroud. This time, in a blur, Ceaser leaped through it, appearing on the other side and right behind Kairi. She couldn't turn around fast enough, as he grabbed the angel's left wing. Immediately, it began turning into ash. She bared her teeth, and in seconds she freed herself from his grasp by slamming a hard kick to his temple. Ceaser fell to the ground again, but landed on his feet, creating a well sized crater from the impact.  
"Ceaser!"  
He looked up, it was Evanee again yelling towards him. "Power down, you have ten seconds left."  
"Tch..! This was getting exciting too." A magic circle appeared under his feet, but before it could begin spinning, Kairi appeared in front of Ceaser, and grabbed his throat. She slammed him to the ground, and held her free hand like a knife. She jabbed it at his neck, but Ceaser was able to catch it, now in a stalemate if strength. "Shit! I can't power down now...!"  
"Ceaser!" Evanee yelled.  
"He can't now!" Rylo added. "If he does, Kairi will kill him in that position."  
{3...2...1..}  
At 1, Evanee leaped down, nose diving to the ground, she was far too late as Ceaser stopped moving for an instant, and though nothing seemed to change, everyone could feel a shift in the air. By the time Evanee was able to reach the ground it was too late. Ceaser was gone, and everyone could tell by the smirk that peered out of the hood that covered his face. He grabbed the arm that was gripping his throat, and slowly, Kairi's arm began turning grey with ash. Seething in pain, she immediately pulled away, and Ceaser took the opening, kipping up and slamming a right kick into her abdomen. Kairi goes crashing into the ground, unmoving.  
"Ceaser! Stop, we're done!"  
Stop he did, but then he turned towards Evanee herself. She slid into a defensive position, yet she had no means to fight her own guild mate as she slowly backed up with every step he took.  
"He must be that strong...to make her back away."  
Kuro turned to the one talking, Elfman. "What do you mean?"  
"That guy is a man...that Evanee woman came into our guild, and we couldn't land a scratch on her. She wasn't on the defensive at all. But now..." Elfman gulped himself as he looked on. "She doesn't even want to get close to him."  
Evanee continuously backed away in her stance as Ceaser walked towards her. He held both of his hands out, and in the next second, the ground beneath his hands began turning into the grey grains of ash as she circled around his palms. He gave a devious grin as he stepped closer and closer to the Twilight Zone ace, now holding his right arm out as if trying to reach her. "I don't have a choice.." She said to herself. She then began to build her own magical pressure, but before she could make a move, a puff of white smoke appeared between the two guild mates.  
"He's here!" Waiston and Jaxon yelled simultaneously. The relief on the faces of White Eclipse appeared like a wave. Everyone else was still cautious of the situation, but the smoke cleared, and with his red scarf flowing eastward with the wind, Sidney Castle, the ace of White Eclipse appeared. He turned to face Ceaser, who grinned back at the slender, white haired male. Ceaser then placed his focus completely on him. Ceaser then reached out for Sidney, but before he could reach him, he disappeared in another cloud of white smoke. The takeover mage looked around in confusion, then finally spotted the ghost mage.  
Kairi stood up finally, but before she could make a move, Sidney pinned her back down to the ground. With his right hand he clawed into her neck. Within seconds, Kairi drifted off into unconsciousness. Due to this, her body began to glow, and then finally reverted to her original self. Evanee looked on in astonishment with everyone else. "How's he that strong? No...I'm sure he's no stronger than me. He just beat her to the punch. I'm sure that's his plan..."  
By this time, Ceaser leaped towards Sidney. He reared his ash covered right fist back, and swung it forward. Right before contact, Sidney's body went into a transparent state, causing Ceaser to literally phase right through him. Once again, before Ceaser could turn around, Sidney clawed his hand into his neck, wrestling the Anubis takeover to the ground. Nearly a minute of struggling went by before Ceaser finally passed out as well.  
"He got them both." Evanee's look of astonishment quietly turned into an excited demeanor. Though she knew now wasn't the time, it was evident that she wanted a fight. This was the second time today she had this feeling, both inappropriate times as the first occurrence was held on the roof when she was trying to free Skye. Rizu had easily subdued her, but she knew she was better than that. And here she stood again, with Sidney knocking out both takeover mages, something she was sure she wasn't going to be able to so. Finally dismissing the thought, she refocused on Sidney as he garnered the attention of everyone around him. "Go home." He stated. "Skye's dead, and everyone who was captured is being released. So go home. Your senseless fights are annoying."  
"You heard the man!" Siegrain yelled from the roof. "Party is over. Remember what I told you all though. You work for us now, so we'll be in touch soon! Oh and Reve..."  
Siegrain turned to the gunslinger who was walking away. Reve stopped but didn't turn around. "Let me know when the funeral is, okay?"  
He stood a bit longer, but then finally moved again as he made his way down the broken tower with Rylo.

.

"The entire guild was there and the council still prevailed?"  
"Yeah man! Our hero Seigrain and his soldiers easily took down Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and Twilight Zone!"  
"That's Siegrain! If Zeref himself can't win, what makes you think some wizards can!?"

Odin stood at the edge of Magnolia with the Fairy Tail. He faced them while they faced the city. "This is your only punishment. You're going to walk through this city, and not touch anyone. Whatever happens to you, no one is held accountable for. I must warn you, they're waiting for you, and the stones they have ready, they're itching to throw. So have fun, and we'll be in contact."  
"They're gonna stone us..." Romeo said, trembling.  
"This is low..why are we the only ones being punished?!" Lucy yelled tears already streaming from her face just from the fear of having rocks launched at her with no right to fight back.  
"It'll be okay.." Erza said, lying through her teeth.  
"I don't want to do this.." Wendy added.  
"Either go, or rot in prison, your choice."  
They all looked back at Odin, and once they faced back towards Magnolia, Natsu was already down the street. "Natsu!" Makarov yelled.  
"Lets catch up! He's the only target right now!" Gray took off, with the rest of the guild behind Natsu and his exceed who walked beside him.  
"Natsu..."  
"Don't worry Happy. It's not a long street. We'll be out soon. Hide under my shirt so you won't get hurt."  
Happy shook his head. "No, I'll be fine."  
As soon as Happy finished speaking, it happened. A large stone was hurled, and slammed against Natsu's head. He didn't budge, yet his head was already trickling blood. By this time, the rest of the guild had caught up to him, and the more steps the took down the long road of the main street of Magnolia, the more stones were thrown. People gathered around the sidewalks as they continued to throw. Another well sized stone was launched, aiming right for Levy. She flinched, but as she opened her eyes, Gajeel stood in front of her, now bleeding from his forehead. "Ga..."  
"Keep walking. I owe you a lot more." He replied to her unfinished sentence as he continued to shield her from the incoming stone projectiles. The more they walked down the street, the more hostile the crowds became, now yelling at the mages with the utmost disrespect.  
"You're a threat to all of us!"  
"Wait until we have magic!"  
"We don't fear you bastards anymore!"  
Natsu kept his head down, and he was getting the worst of it as he led the group in their trek back home. His head was busted open in several places. Lucy couldn't help but watch in horror as she was being covered along with the rest of the women of Fairy Tail. Another stone to the head later, she couldn't take anymore. "Natsu!" She broke through the shield of mages as she ran up to the front, but as she appeared, another rock came hurling in, and she was in it's direct line of sight. She watched, wide eyed and frozen in place. Before the stone could hit, Natsu quickly grabbed her and stepped in front of the celestial mage. The stone slammed right into the back of his head, opening another gash. The dragon slayer went limp for a second, causing Lucy to hold on to him to keep him up as she failed to contain her tears. A highly bruised Laxus then pulled them both back into the middle, eyeing the man who threw the stone. It was the same big guy who tried to take Lucy in before the entire situation got started. Still, no one could do anything as they continued walking, eventually out of the city as they finally make it to their guild. The atmosphere was as painful as the rocks they had thrown at them. The once prestigious Fairy Tail guild, was now being treated just like criminals.

But in Siegrain's new world.

They were.


	2. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: An Evil Resolve. Infiltrate Sorcière Warehouse!

"It's been a month since then. Reve just started talking again, though his sentences are still short. We stopped training like we were before this whole thing started. In fact, I'm not even sure we'll compete this year in the Grand Magic Games. Everyone just seems so, out of spirit.." Kuro huffed out in exhaustion. He was sitting on the snowy ground with his legs folded over. His fire red and orange colored hair wavered in the wind as he stared at the tombstone in front of him. "Right now, it almost seems easier being you, Mary." The red head then looked over to the tombstone beside Mary's, his frown growing deeper as he examined it. "Skye didn't deserve what happened to her. It wasn't Reve's fault, but I don't blame Kairi for leaving either.."

{FlashBack}  
Everyone was dawned in black attire, some of the guild members sitting around the main room with sorrow etched upon their faces while the others were still slowly filing in. Though their time to pay respect was over, many still shed tears for their lost guild mate, Skye Ravenwood. Reve sat beside Taya, his head sunken into his hands to cover his face. The dark vector mage placed a hand on his spine, consoling the latter by rubbing his back as he let out a few sniffles, yet refusing to actually cry or even shed in front of his family. As everyone walked in, the last one to enter was Kairi. As the angel takeover stepped inside, she made a bee line right for her room, not looking at a single soul as she climbed the stairs. She made it to her door, unlocked it, then stepped inside. Inside her room, was now...nothing. Their were a few suitcases against the wall, but beside that, Kairi's room was completely cleaned out besides the standard furniture that came with it.  
She took a deep breath, scanning the room once more after she grabbed her two suitcases. She then walked out, placing the luggage down temporarily to close the door behind her. She picked them back up once more, and then inhaled once more before making her way to the top of the stairs. Once she was there, she immediately garnered attention, as everyone looked up to see Kairi holding her luggage.  
"Kairi?" The curious copy mage called out in question. He stood up, watching her descend down the stairway. "What are you..?"

"You ready?"  
Everyone looked over towards the gunslinger, who still had his head covered until he finally stood up. He threw his hands in his pockets as he, and Takeru stood up. Takeru took Kairi's luggage, and walked her outside with Reve. Kairi nodded, and then followed the two boys out. Everyone else, stood their in the main room, dumbfounded.

Outside, a carriage waited Kairi. Takeru quickly threw her stuff in the back, then ran towards Reve and the Angel takeover as they stood in front of each other. The shadow dragon now stood next to Reve.  
"Anything you want to say, before you-"  
"Stop Reve." Kairi cuts the gunslinger off. She balled her fists as she kept her view on the snowy ground. "I told you on the way home, I just want a clean leave, so please.."  
"I remember what you said." Reve replied. "But I just want you to know...Skye looked to you as a sister, you know that. She saw us as true siblings over regular guild members. And I just want to say-"  
"Reve!" Kairi shouted, trying to cut him off again.  
"I'm sorry for letting the family down.."  
"..." Kairi lowered her head once more, shaking in her arms as he tightly clenched fists wavered. "I can't forgive you. Not while I'm here. I know you tried..and I'll always be your sister, like Skye wanted; but I just can't forgive you right now. So please...just give me the dismissal speech."  
Reve nodded. He then placed his hand on his forearm, where his guild insignia was located. From that spot, a magic seal was created, illuminating his tattoo. Suddenly, Kairi's guild mark began glowing as well. She watched in a bit of amazement, snapping out of it as Reve began the recital of the speech. Takeru watched closely as he started.  
"Though it seems our paths have come to a split, showing that our true goals have a difference, the ride with you was more than average. Being a White Eclipse mage is a great luxury, but it's not the grandest. The greatest luxury is fulfilling your life's dream; and as you leave to continue to follow your dreams, you must remember three things: One, any and all information exclusive to the guild White Eclipse goes with you to the grave. Two, as your guild mark leaves you, know that though we still are friends, you are now competition under the eyes of the three moons. And three, though your guild mark becomes erased, your history here in this guild will be forever imprinted."

"History.." She mumbled to herself. Kairi then quickly flashed back to the highlights of her White Eclipse career. From the first event in the Grand Magic Games, to her fight with Mirajane, and then fighting along side the demon takeover during the apocalypse. The smallest of smiles came across her face as her guild mark disappeared from her person. Takeru stepped in front of her, back beside Reve as they stood inches away from their now former guild mate. "We'll miss you Kairi. I'll miss you, and I don't miss anything. We-"  
It was the third time Kairi has cut someone off, but this time, it wasn't by words. She stood between the two mages, her opposing arms wrapping around them both as she buried her head between them both. Reve was the next to follow as he wrapped his arms around both Kairi and Takeru. Takeru was soon to follow as well, surprised that Reve was hugging someone, even in this situation. He stayed silent with the rest, until Kairi finally broke the hug. She wiped the wetness from her eyes. "You two know that Skye's death isn't the only reason I'm leaving."  
They both nodded.  
"With that being said. When I say, tell everyone I said to be safe. I mean Kuro, Zalen, Heather, Sidney, and Waiston...oh and Master Calium of course."  
"Heh.. I understand." Reve replied in a shaky voice. Takeru nodded as well. Kairi then sighed, and looked them in the eyes with a feigning smile. "Well..until next time guys.."  
"Where are you going though?" The shadow dragon slayer asked. Kairi began walking to the carriage, and waved to Takeru without turning around. "To get help." Those were her only words as she hopped in. The carriage then took off, Reve and Tak watching it leave until they could no longer see it.

The flashback changed scenery, back to the aftermath of the battle at the stronghold as Kuro spoke once more. "A few weeks later, we received a letter from Kairi, telling us where she was. It was weird because the next day, Mirajane came by to talk to her, but once we notified her where she was, she immediately walked out. Probably because they were the guild that attacked Fairy Tail. I guess they haven't forgiven Twilight Zone yet."

Kairi and Ceaser were back in their normal forms, on the ship with everyone else as it began to take them home. Ceaser was leaning over the side watching the view as Kairi walked up to him.  
"Um...hey." She spoke nervously. The cinnamon haired mage turned around, then directed his vision downward to see her in front of him. "Huh? Oh hey shorty. Nice fight! For the five minutes I could remember it that is!" He gave such an innocent smile for two mages that just threatened Fiore and each other with their magic. She stood dumbfounded just from the one sentence. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She said, finally replying. "How...how did you keep control for that long?"  
"Long? Shorty it was only five minutes."  
She blinked again. "...You know in a form like that, five minutes is like, a world record right?"  
Ceaser scratched his head, then stared up to the clouds. "Hm..."  
He never answered her. His mind wandered off the instant he looked away from Kairi. After a full minute she caught on, and a twitch in her left eye began. "Hey! I asked you a question!"  
He jolted back to reality. "Huh!? Oh! Um. Sorry, but there's certain information I can't give to other guild members. That includes my training methods."  
Kairi was about to give up, as she turned around, huffing and walking away from the giant mage.  
"But!" Kairi stopped in her tracks, now listening to Ceaser's ultimatum.  
"If you were to join Twilight Zone, I could help you, and you could help me. It seems you're the only takeover in your guild. I am too, but no offense, it seems I have more support in mine. Evanee never spares a moment to help with training, and she's our ace. That means a lot to us. You seem to be alone. So join a group that cares, Kairi."  
Another dumbfounded look. Wasn't she just talking to an idiot? He just spaced out seconds ago. Kairi hesitated, then nodded without turning around. "We'll be waiting." Ceaser added as the angel takeover walked away, as if he knew she would join them.  
{End FlashBack.}

Kuro sighed once more. "You see, you're in heaven, peacefully watching hell on EarthLand, Mary."  
"Kuro!"  
The fire make mage turned around, only to see Selene waving him down. "You're needed inside, so come on."  
"I am?" Kuro questioned. He quickly hopped up, and bowed to Mary and Skye's grave, then ran back inside.

He entered the guild, and made his way to the main room where he saw everyone sitting around the table. At the end of the table, was Lahar himself. Kuro blinked, noticing a lot more people than usual. That was because, other guilds were here, standing around. He recognized them all too. At the front of the table he saw Rylo, Taranis and Evanee of Twilight Zone. He looked to the middle of the table, and there he saw Leon, who he didn't recognize, along with Trinity, and Tristan of Black Phoenix. Closer to him, was Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy and Gajeel of Fairy Tail. "What a full house...this could be bad." Kuro whispered.  
He blinked once more, and then quietly sat down next to Waiston and Luke. Lahar then cleared his throat to start. "Now then, lets begin. Today starts your repaying of your debt to the magic council. If everything goes well, this will be your first and last job for us." Lahar then turned to the side as Doranbolt entered the room, along with two figures beside him. "Reve, Kuro, Taya, Selene, Aira and Luke Cloud. You're going to represent your guild in this mission."  
"So why am I here?" Sidney asked, making his eerie presence known in the room.  
"Don't worry. We'll get to you." Lahar replied. "Now then, your mission."  
Lahar rolled out two rolled up posters. One was a map, the other, a poster of a man. The man had blonde hair, pushed down by a black fedora. His hazel eyes were piercing. Beside him in the picture was a rather tall, taupe colored male. He had black hair, slicked back and in a tail. He held a scar on his head that trailed all the way across. His mucus green eyes staring back at whoever was looking at the poster.  
Immediately, Rylo's eyes widened, but he lowered them to not draw attention to himself. "This, is Sorcière Warehouse. The most notorious wizard mafia in Fiore are your targets."  
"You're insane." Reve says, his arms folded over his chest as he leaned back into his chair. He kept a calm demeanor, which did not reflect his words at all. "You want us to fight a mafia? Just kill us now then."  
"Sounds like we got ourselves a chicken over here don't ya say boy?"  
Reve quickly sat up in his chair, eyeing the figure that just insulted him. "Don't call me a boy." Reve replied in an angered tone. "I'll blast a hole right through your head."  
The figure gave out a hearty laugh. "Boy, I'd let you draw your gun, and I'd still beat you to the shot faster than a rabbit than you could even bat an eyelid."  
Reve raised a brow towards the male. Now that he noticed him, he realized how towering he was. He has blonde hair in a tail that fell to his back. His blue eyes were overlooked by a green marking coming from the corner of his eyes. "And who is this guy, Lahar? Another one of your soldiers?"  
"I wish." Lahar fixed his glasses back to his face. "Might as well introduce them now. This guy, his name is Mac. He's the guild master of Aurora Pistola. And the guy a bit behind us..." He pointed to the male who was leaning against the wall, arms folded. He has long black hair, his eyes were covered by a straw hat. "Is Satoshi, another guild master. His guild is known as Shaman's Haven. These are temporary allies that we put together for you since you're no longer allowed to work with your previous allies."  
Mac gave Reve a grin as the gunslinger sat back down.  
"Now, as I was saying. Your objective isn't to fight them per say. Tomorrow marks Sorcière Warehouse's twentieth annual mafia alliance meeting. That's right, they won't be the only mafia group there." He then points to the man in the fedora. "This man here, is the leader of it all, Kemuri." His father used to run Sorcière Warehouse until he recently died of illness a month ago. Now Kemuri runs it, which means he's still wet behind the ears in knowing the business."  
"That's what you think.." Rylo thought to himself, uneasily tapping his foot in no certain rhythm. The only person to catch on, was Evanee, yet she doesn't say anything as Lahar continues.  
"Now, for the objective. Inside of Sorcière Warehouse, is... The same machine we used to extract Skye Ravenwood's magic." Lahar knew what was coming, but everything happened so fast as Reve's chair fell over. In a blink of an eye, he held a rather large gun to his head. Reve...stood in shock as Mac pressed the cannon to his temple. Reve didn't even get his magnum up past his hip.  
"...Fast." Sidney says to himself. Evanee then replays the situation herself. "He's the real deal alright. That Reve guy was using magic to speed up his draw, and he's not even close to Lahar, yet, Mac requiped the same time Reve did, and he's locked and loaded..."  
"Put it down, boy." Mac says. Reve stays still, and then finally drops his gun as the other members of White Eclipse watch in awe. Gajeel then spoken to break the tension. "Anyways, continue, you're boring me."  
"Right, inside their building is the same machine we extracted Skye's magic with, except it's complete. We need one of two things from you. One, destroy the machine. Or two, destroy the machine and find their blueprints.  
Erza was about to raise a hand, but Evanee immediately looked over to her, shaking her head. For some reason, Erza obliged and lowered her hand. "I know exactly what you're thinkng red head." She said to herself. "And asking that question will ruin things."  
Erza nodded, as if she could read Evanee's thoughts. "Some of you will be dressed as mafia members. We've given you all aliases to go by, so don't forget them. You'll be posing as a new mafia group that just surfaced exactly four months ago. Reve, you're our 'boss.' Your group name, 'The Underground.'" Minutes passed as Lahar discussed the plans with the guild members, tracing his finger across the map of the area as he explained what was to be done.

"So, are we clear?"  
"Crystal clear, Seigrain."  
The Bluenette stood in front of the men in the poster. Kemuri was sitting at the end of a superiorly long table as the man beside him stood, cigar in hand. "It's the least we'z can do for the machine blueprints you let here. I told ya I was gonna pay ya back right? Well we'll get rid of these mages for ya." His thick accent rung through the room. He gave a smirk as he turns to the man beside him. "Aye Tiny. You can show the council leader out now. His stay is overdue ya know?"  
Siegrain gave a surrendering wave. "No no, it's fine. It's a straight shot, so I'll walk myself out." On his words, he turned and began walking out. Once he left the room, and then the building, he passed the gates of the giant mansion. Ultear was waiting for him, hidden against the brick wall of the gates as she now began walking with him. "As manipulative as always." She said with a grin.  
"It works out either way. Either those annoying mages win, and I won't have to worry about Sorcière Warehouse anymore. Or the mafia wins and I won't have to worry about Fairy Tail and White Eclipse anymore. Not to mention the impossible mission the Aces are about to attend. It's scary that he's alive, but I should thank him for releasing such a monstrosity."

"This man thinks we're a fool huh Tiny?"  
"Yeah Junior." He took a long puff and then exhale of his cigar. "I've been in the game too long with your old man. I taught you better than to trust anyone but yourself."  
"Aye, you and pops did. And since Seigrain tried to play me in my own establishment, we'll play along with his little game. But once we handle the mages, we'll take it to the council, and then take over Fiore itself."

Lahar stood in the room once more, this time, only Evanee, Tristan, Sidney and Erza were in the room with them.  
"Now..for your missions...we've received a distress call from the town Onibus. At first we ignored it, and only sent a few guards down there to check on what was happening because the call was so unbelievable. So far fetched. But then, only one guard came back alive, and his description was the same as the calls we received. Aces...we have a live demon on our hands."  
"Demon?" Erza raised a brow. "That can't be, all demons are trapped in Zeref's book, and the only person who has that is.."  
"You put the pieces together already, how wise of you." Lahar replied. "It can only be the work of Daityas. Now that we've studied this case, it was recollected that he was no where to be found once Zeref and Acnologia were defeated."  
"So it has to be him." Sidney adds. Lahar nods. "If it is, that means he still has the book, and he's just unleashed a demon upon a city. The city is completely destroyed, yet, it has yet to leave the area for some reason. It's your jobs, to destroy it. Not subdue, destroy."  
"You really think it's going to take all of us?" Evanee asked.  
"And you said Aces, so why is Erza here." Tristan added in question. "No offense."  
"None taken." She replied.  
"Erza is here because Gildarts is no where to be found. Now, you have your jobs, you'll leave tomorrow as well. Good luck to you all.

You'll need it."


	3. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Charity.

Lahar: {You all remember the plan right? You'll be split up into two groups. First of all, thank you Warren of Fairy Tail for providing us with telepathic communication. Now, Group one: Reve, Tayakata, Gray, Lucy, Taranis, Selene, Aira, Trinity, and Luke. Everyone else is in group two. Group one will be our participants of the Mafia Alliance meeting. Once again, it's important that you don't forget your aliases. You're no longer your original names until this mission is over. Do not talk out of character to anyone who isn't part of The Underground. Once you exit the carriage, you'll head through the front door like everyone else, Reve in front. Through the front door, you'll be given a bracelet. That bracelet will cut off all of your magic. This is your first objective. One of you, besides Reve, find the lone person with the key switch to the bracelets. Kemuri has it hidden on one of his thugs. We suspect it to be hidden on his right hand man, Tiny. Reve, your job is to mingle, find out any and all information about anything Sorcière Warehouse. Do not do too much. Just do what you're supposed to.}  
On cue, their carriage pulled to the long driveway. The carriage had a weird symbol on the side, two shovels crossing each other. Plain, but representative. They stepped out, Reve and Taya first as the valet opened the door. Reve stood in black slacks and a white matching blazer. He adjusted his black tie correctly and smoothed down the back of his now gel styled hair. His eyes were no longer blue, as he wore purple contacts to hide his natural color. Out next, was Taya. She wore an all white dress that stopped well above the knee, hugging her curves tightly. In her left hand she held a small white clutch purse. Her raven colored hair curled down past her shoulders, and her raven colored orbs were now green. The two stood together, signifying them as the leaders of the faux mafia group. The rest fall in line out of carriage in all black. The boys were in standard black suits, while the girls had their own all black attire. The group began walking towards the door, being eyed by anyone outside. "Getting a lot of stares already.." Taya noted, as she walked with Reve, her arm interlocked with his as she ran the other one through her hair, keeping a sassy demeanor that she was to portray at the meeting. "It's probably because we're the new group. Either that or it could be the slime balls picturing you naked, since your dress is already too short to do anything but give them imagination." Reve looked over to her after his comment. Taya did nothing but smirk, Reve mistaking it for her character. "Well, I never got to use it, so this works fine. Besides.." She then turned to the gunslinger as they neared the entrance. "It's just long enough to cover everything, but short enough to keep attention so the others can move more freely."  
Reve curled his lip at the thought, instinctively pulling her closer to him as they reached the door. She grinned at the pull whispering to herself. "He's too easy sometimes." Now at the door, the group waited as the bouncer filed through his clipboard. "Okay...The Underground Mafia. We have, their don, Sebastian...nice name there." Reve scoffed towards the bouncer, but it was ignored as he looked over Taya, and the other girls walking up behind the "leaders."  
"Maryse?" The bouncer asked, to confirm the name with the face. "First Lady of the Underground right here, big guy." Taya replied, winking once at the bouncer. He gave a smug grin, biting his lip as he examined the females blatantly. Gray huffed in annoyance then thought to himself. "Are they all pigs?" He looked around to confirm his suspicions. Everyone was staring as if they've never seen women before. "What!? Y'all in all male mafia groups or something!?"  
Gray turned to Lucy in shock, the now brunette haired celestial mage stood in her black dress, about the same lengths as Taya's. She held a hand on her hip, eyes closed as she continued her temporary demeanor. "Boys, I swear! You need a turtle neck just to walk past these Neanderthals!"  
The bouncer immediately straightened up, respecting the spout from Lucy. "S-Sorry! It's only gonna get worse inside I won't lie. You may all enter after the bracelets are strapped on!" She couldn't help but grin. Her last retort was nothing like her original nature, but Lucy was proud of herself for being able to make someone respect her in such a manner just now. Once the bracelets were on, the group immediately walked in, and dispersed into smaller groups or singles.  
Gray wandered straight ahead, looking around. He continued to scan the area for anyone who would seem to have a key, until..  
In front of him, a blue haired waitress holding a tray turned around with a smile. "Fruit, sir?"  
He froze, then began shaking a bit, taken completely by surprise. "J-J-Juvi-"  
"Shhh!" Juvia placed her hand over Gray's mouth. "Juvia is undercover to protect Gray-Sama from possible love rivals!"  
Gray frantically shook his head, but eventually calmed down, remembering his was undercover. Still, he scratched his now dark red hair in a mixture of confusion and fear. "I...just be careful okay?"  
She nodded with another smile. "You too, Gray-Sama!"  
"It's Ren for now." He replied with a weary grin. As he began walking off, he was tugged by the collar by a white haired woman. "Hey, you. You seem attractive, so keep me company."  
"Huh!?" Gray nearly toppled over from her strength as he was tugged by his collar, now being pulled away from the white haired woman. He looked back, and all he could see was a silently enraged Juvia holding the tray. "Hey, slow down! Look!" He finally got her to stop pulling. Then, she turned around, and Gray stood nearly speechless, basically quivering from the person in front of him. "Y-You...!"

Lahar: {Group two: Natsu, Leon, Gajeel, Kuro, Rylo, and apparently Takeru...}  
"Why did you come along Takeru?" Rylo asked the shadow dragon.  
"Because, if anyone touches Selene I'll murder them. I don't care about the mission, but I won't jeopardize it. Also..." He looked back to the two mages behind them. "I don't trust new people." His comment caused everyone to turn to the two new mages. Mason Calvot of Shaman's Haven, and Rem Akumu of Aurora Pistola. Mason scoffed. The young male narrowed his eyes towards Takeru. "I'm sixteen you jerk. What can I do to betray the council?" The young male asked. He wasn't very tall. He had copper colored eyes, and black hair covered by a black beanie over his head. The other male, Rem, stayed quiet. He too had black hair along with his raven colored eyes.  
"I don't know what you're capable of." Takeru replied. "You're here for a reason." Takeru then turned his attention to Natsu. "And this idiot.."  
Everyone turned to Natsu, who wore his patented scarf...around his head, covering everything but his eyes. "...Nin Nin?" The Salamander said quizzically, holding his hands up in a cliche ninja fashion.  
"Okay, enough!" Rylo exclaimed in a whisper. "Lets just do what we came here to do!"  
{Your job, is to infiltrate the mansion from the roof, and search for the chair and the blueprints. Destroy the chair, and retrieve the blueprints. Do not get caught, or it will cause an uproar.}  
Rylo led the way as they moved together on the roof. To the other side was a vent, and a patrolling guard as well. "I got him." Natsu says as he ignites his fists. Gajeel quickly bumps him on the head with his fist. "This is gonna take stealth you idiot. We need...where did top hat go?" Gajeel and the others looked around, noticing that Rylo was no where to be found. Suddenly, the guard that was patrolling the roof was quickly taken off his feet as his head hit the floor of the roof. Another second later, Rylo reappeared with the spin of a magic seal. He waved over to the others as he began slowly pulling the vent off it's bolts. Gajeel shrugged as Tak led the others towards the magician. "Once I open this vent, we'll be on the fourth floor. I'm going to the left hallway. The rest of you pair up, one group taking the right, the others make their way to the third floor and so on. Once a floor is clear, contact everyone through Warren."  
"Why are you going alone?" Leon asked curiously. "And how do you know this place so well?" Mason added. Rylo sighed a bit, and then turned his attention back to the vent, pulling it off completely. He then hopped down without answering their questions. "Hey! Shit...well he's leading this side of the operation, so we got no choice." Gajeel huffed at his own words as he followed Rylo down. Behind him, Takeru, then Natsu and Leon, and finally Mason and Rem. Once Gajeel touched down with Takeru, they noticed that Rylo was already gone. "To the right?" Gajeel asked his temporary partner. Takeru simply nodded, and they both took off down the hallway. The others followed, Natsu and Leon leading the rear as they turned at the last second, descending the stairs to the third floor along with Rem and Mason. There, Natsu and Leon would head off to the left, Mason and Rem taking the right hallway.  
Back on the fourth floor, Rylo crept through the halls until he made his way to the end. There. was a single door. Rylo stared at the door for a bit before moving. "..."

{FlashBack}  
A young Rylo stood around the corner, peeping around as a young Kemuri was being lectured by his shadowy figure of a father.  
"Kemuri. What did I tell you about playing around on the top floor?" The deep voice asked him in a stern tone. All Rylo could see was Kemuri with his head lowered in shame as he was being lectured. "Sorry pops." The young boy replied with nothing but fear in his voice. He shook a bit, just noticeable to the untrained eye. "Junior, what have I said? During these hours you address me as Boss. Not pops."  
Kemuri nodded. "Now, don't come near this door, or this floor again. Do you want me to get robbed? This is where the money goes, you know that. I don't care if he's your friend or not, if that homeless kid takes anything from here-"  
"He's not a theif!" Kemuri yelled, cutting his father off.  
"Quiet!" The man retaliated. "Don't you ever interrupt me again! I don't like thieves in my house! As ironic as that sounds, since we make illegal movements all the time, but none here. Stay on the first floor. Do I make myself clear?"  
As Rylo listened in, he felt a hand pat on his shoulder. He jumped, and then turned around to see Tiny behind him, smoking his usual cigar. "Don't take it personally squirt. There's just some places that some people don't belong; and you in this house is one of them. Boss is being generous by letting you stay on the first, so don't forget that, or you can kiss your friendship with Kemuri goodbye and head to the nearest homeless shelter."  
Rylo was lost for words, so he shakily nodded, staring at Tiny with worry and fear.  
{End FlashBack}

"Too bad I am a thief..." Rylo whispered. He then walked towards the door. "Thief magic do your thing." The magician chanted, placing his hand on the locked door. A magic seal appeared, and then began spinning back and forth like a combination lock. Seconds later, the door unlocked and opened. Rylo looked around, and the stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind him. As he stepped in, he flipped the light switch, the illuminating bulbs filling the room quickly. He walked forward. Straight ahead in this small room was all he wanted. The safe where all the income was kept. He stood in front of the giant safe, taking slow breaths as he looked it over. "I hope you can see me from the grave you asshole, because I'm about to rob you and your son blind."

.

Onibus. The now deserted and destroyed town. Just on the outskirts, hid Sidney, Tristan, Evanee, and Erza. Crouched down, all four of them looked ahead, their target literally sitting in the middle of the city; out in the open.  
"It's just sitting there." Erza stated. "As Lahar said." Sidney replied.  
"When should we attack? Lahar said we have to destroy it." Evanee's question didn't get an answer until a few seconds later as Sidney spoke again. "Lets asses the situation and our surroundings first. We're in Onibus, a now deserted town. Completely destroyed. Just like dragons and gods, demons live by an element. We don't know which element this one is yet..."  
Evanee squinted, focusing on the demon. Though it was sitting, the demon had a towering structure. It was shaped like a bear, it's claws abnormally elongated on it's hands and feet. On it's back, it had two long gray marking trailing from it's shoulders, all the way down to it's calves. The demon don't have a facial structure. Instead, there were two red eyes glowing, as well as a red light coming from where it's mouth was supposed to be. It would appear occasionally, signifying the opening and closing of it's mouth. "Hmm..."  
Sidney would then continue. "Also, do you know what's not far from here?"  
Tristan quickly answered. "The mafia alliance meeting."  
"Right. So when we do attack this thing, if it tries to flee, we can't let it escape southward."  
"So, no element indication, and we can't let it escape south." Erza nodded. "Well the sooner we attack..."  
"We will." Sidney says, stopping the requip mage. "But there's something missing. Why hasn't it moved after destroying this town? Does it claim it as it's new home? Or is Daityas controlling it?"  
As Sidney asked his last question, the demon that was facing away from them, quickly cut his eyes towards the four mages. "Well it looks like we're about to get our answer." Evanee says as she slowly stands up with the rest of them. The demon too arises, now even taller. Well over seven feet it stood, burly in stature. It stared at the four mages, and then let out a loud howl into the air, shaking the area's foundation alone. "Ready yourselves!" Tristan yelled. Everyone took a fighting stance, Erza requiping into her Purgatory Armor. As the demon stopped it's howling into the air, he whipped its head forward, during a vortex of what seems like stones from it's mouth. The mages quickly disperse, the vortex so big that everyone barely escaped. Erza looked back at the hill they recently stood upon, noticing that it no longer existed just from that attack. She gave a "Tch" and then charged forward with the others, never looking back from that point on.

.

{Flashback}  
The aftermath of the battle on the stronghold. The first captain stayed hidden the entire time, a ways away from the battlefield. Not that he was afraid, no. It was against his will as he now stood, battered and bruised in front of the large male that wore a green mask. "W..why? Why can't I land a hit on you!?" The first captain huffed out in frustration.  
"You've become a lot stronger. How weird." The male responded.  
"Stronger?" He gave the mask wearer a pained yet quizzical look. "It'll all be explained shortly, but for now, I need you in the council." The male nodded once, and then began walking away towards the edge of the island. "Wait!" He huffed out. "Who are you? I asked you a question! First Captain Riley asked you a-"  
"Shut up Tobias." The male replied, cutting the first captain off as he disappeared over the horizon.  
"Tobias?"  
{End Flashback}

Gray sat across from her, the white haired female. The placed her head on her palm as she stared back at the Ice maker with a grin. "Amelia huh? That's a nice name." Gray says to break the silence. He folded his arms over his chest as he began to focus within his thoughts. "Is she for real? There's no way anyone would fall for a simple name change. She hasn't changed her appearance at all for a disguise. Does she really believe that's her name? Maybe she thought that enough time has passed that no one would recognize her. If that's the case, what is she doing here? Is she after the chair too?" Gray looked up, examining Amelia once more, who was now waving in front of his face. "Hello!? Are you in there!? I asked your name." She exclaimed. Gray blinked a few times before snapping out of it. "Oh, sorry. I'm Ren. Amelia, tell me about yourself."  
Amelia leaned back in her seat a bit, raising a brow. "What are you, a councilmen? What's with the third degree?"  
"No, it's not that!" Gray replied with a frantic wave. "It's just, you remind me of someone is all. So I was interested in knowing more about you is all."  
"Remind you of someone huh? Sorry, Ren baby, but I like being one of a kind to a person." Amelia grinned as she stood up from the table, dusting off her magma colored dress. She then began walking off. Gray turned as she walked past him, standing out of his seat. "Wait!"  
Before he could take another step, three well sized males stood in his path. "If the First Lady is done with you, then you're done as well." The bigger one in the middle says as they simultaneously fold their arms over their chest. Gray bared his teeth a bit, but then observed their wrists. And began examining the situation in his head. "...They don't have bracelets.. Only Sorcière Warehouse is allowed to walk freely here. So that means...She's the First Lady of Sorcière Warehouse!? She really doesn't remember who she is!"  
Before Amelia could walk away completely, a man cuts her off, tapping her on the shoulder. At this time, slow music started playing to entertain the guests. She was intrigued. Gray couldn't make out what was said, but Amelia obliged and took the male's hand. "That guy, looks so familiar." Gray thought to himself. As they walked off, the male turned to face Gray with a cheeky grin. He stood pretty tall and muscular. He had blonde hair, and light blue eyes. That's what was throwing Gray off. As the male turned back forward, Gray noticed the two shovels on his neck, indicating he was from the underground. "What!?" He screamed inside his head. Off instinct he took a step forward, only to be pushed back by the men in front of him. "Look kid, you lost your chance to keep the First Lady company. Get lost!"  
Gray sneered, but then immediately turned around and walked off to look for Reve and Taya.

[Rewind: Exactly ten minutes ago.]  
The bouncer in front of the entrance outside shuffled through his clipboard as the same male Gray noticed now stood in front of him. After making his way back to the Underground portion of the guest list, he looked back up to the mysterious male. "Okay, name." The bouncer demanded, just to confirm that he was on the list. The male smirked, taking off his driver's cap to reveal his face from the shadow that hung from the hat. He gave a toothy grin. "My name. Is Dante."  
"Dante...Yup. You're the last guest of the underground. Why didn't you arrive with your boss and the others?"  
Dante then began walking past, receiving his bracelet. "I had to park the carriage." He said in a blatantly mysterious tone. He grinned once more, and then continued to walk inside.  
[Rewind Over.]

Reve and Taya stood together, Reve with his hands in his pockets. Taya stood with her arms folded over as the two conversed together.  
"We should split up eventually, to find the key switch to the bracelets." Taya suggested. Reve didn't answer for a bit, looking into the crowd of people. He then looked back at Taya, who was already looking at him, waiting for a response. "I guess..." He responded. "If you have any trouble just-"  
"Guys!"  
Reve and Taya, as well as the other mages of the faux mafia stopped in their tracks as Gray's voice echoed in their heads. "We have a problem!"  
"What is it Gray?" Reve replied, looking around until he spotted the ice maker leaning against the east wall. Gray spotted him too and nodded his head over to the north. "Everyone, focus on the white haired female to the north wing."  
Everyone complied, and as Taya turned to see, off instincts, her pupils shrunk in anger. She bared her teeth, shaking noticeably. "How is she alive...Maggie..!"  
"Maggie!?" Selene said out loud. She stood next to Aira, now staring northward with the wind mage.  
"But how?" Aira replied with a question. "Weren't they..?"  
Taya began walking towards her, only for Reve to grab her and turn her back to him. "Hey! Now isn't the time! We have a job to do! We will figure it out on the way!"  
"She's standing there plain as day!" Taya exclaimed. Reve began shushing her as they slowly started to draw attention. He then just stared at her, letting Warren's telepathic link help his mind do the talking. "That's the reason why it isn't safe. We don't know what's going on, so relax, and we'll all keep an eye on her."  
Taya took in a deep breath, giving a frustrating huff as an exhale. "Right, we'll figure it out." She nodded, and Reve did the same with an assuring smile, until a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked up, and noticed Tiny standing behind him. "Everything okay here?" Tiny asked. Reve looked at his shoulder in annoyance, then back at the first hand male to Kemuri. "Yeah, everything's good. The First Lady was just a bit loud."  
"Tch!"  
Tiny grinned, pulling the cigar from his mouth. "Well I'm glad everything is okay. Anyways, Kemuri would like to speak to you now, Sebastian. Don't worry, it's a traditional thing."  
Reve slowly nodded, and walked along with Tiny through the northern gate, right past Maggie and "Dante."  
Taya stood alone for a second, and a second was all it took for her to feel a hand placed upon the small of her back. She remained calm, but on the inside, she was ready to mutilate the person touching her. "Hey gorgeous, since your boss man is busy, how about you let me..'entertain' you?" Taya turned to see that random Neanderthal of a mafia member, but before she could react, she noticed something on his wrist. It was the key switch. She grinned after reassuring it was, then huffed once more from basically being felt upon by the unattractive stranger. "Oh? Why don't we sit and talk then, eh?" Taya replied with a sly grin. The male smirked as well, then led them both to a table, his hand still on the small of her back. Selene snickered as she watched. "Poor Taya, but it must mean she has something, so be ready Aira. Aira?" Selene looked around, only to spot the now purple haired wind mage surrounded by a group of thugs with Lucy. Aira stood there with a sweat drop as Lucy's forehead vein slowly began to throb. Selene dug her face into her right hand. As she pulled it away, she noticed Taranis quietly moving around the westward wing. "Hm.." Selene then walked the opposite way, getting nothing but stares as the now red headed diamond dragon slayer moved on. Hearing the occasional whistle and wolf howl, she started an eye twitch of her own. "Find that stupid key switch to these things. Gah I hate you pigs."

Maggie was found with Dante, waltzing around the northern area of the main room. Dante kept a grin on his face as he held her hand in his. Maggie returned the gesture. "For some reason, this feels familiar. I can't put my finger on it though." She said with a genuine smile. Dante was now receiving looks from every thug in Sorcières Warehouse, but ignored them all completely. He smiled towards her once more as they spun. "So tell me, Dante was it? Have you ever met a girl like me? The last guy I was talking to me basically told me I wasn't special."  
Dante laughed. "You haven't changed a bit..." He whispered. Maggie raised a brow. "Huh?"  
He shook his head. "You're asking if I've ever met anyone like you? Well, yes and no. Yes I've met someone like you before, but, no...because you are that person."  
She was now utterly confused. "I...you're making no sense there stud. Talk some English alright?"  
"Tell you what." Dante released Maggie, then gave another smirk. "Meet me on the second floor, and it'll all make sense."  
Now flustered at his request, the now crimson faced Maggie, who still believed herself to be Amelia, turned around to the leaving Dante. "If you think I'm that easy..!"  
He didn't respond, so she just watched him walk away, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Men."

"Have a seat." Tiny pointed to the lone chair at the end of a long table. Reve took his seat, and as he did, six men stepped out from behind the pillars. Before Reve could react, one one of them had a right grip on his shoulders. "I wouldn't move if I were you'z." Reve looked up to see Kemuri enter the room from the other side. He fixed his fedora, then took a puff from the cigar dangling from his mouth. He began a methodical pace towards Reve as he exhaled the smoke from his mouth. "Well now, Mr. Sebastian. Even though that's not your real name." Kemuri smirked as his own comment as he now stood next to the gunslinger. "I bet you didn't know that we knew you guys were phonies all along huh?" Reve elected not to answer. Instead he narrowed his eyes as Kemuri blew a cloud of smoke into his face. Kemuri then began to pace around Reve. "You clowns think that just because I'm a young one, I don't know how to run something, so you think you can waltz in here, and shut me down!? Oh you're sadly mistaken kid. I know Seigrain has you and that group of yours on some undercover mission. You're looking for the chair right?"  
Reve didn't answer, so as punishment, he received a right hook to the jaw, causing his head to snap to the side. Tiny rubbed his fist with a calm expression. "He asked you a question."  
Kemuri placed his hand in front of Tiny. "Heh, it's okay Tiny. I got it." Kemuri then pointed to one of the six men. He wore a tacky green suit and red bow tie. "Trey." Kemuri said, and he reacted. A magic seal appeared under the chair Reve sat in. Immediately, Reve was now cuffed down to the chair, the same way Skye was as the chair began to change shape until a much bigger piece. "You're looking for the chair there chief? Well guess what?

You've found it."


	4. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Their Own Objectives.

"Meet me on the second floor, and it'll all make sense."  
"Dante's words rung through the ears of Maggie as she now sat alone, staring at the table in front of her. With her chin in her hand, she was lost in thoughts, until finally, Luke Cloud and Taranis walked up to her, Taranis not stopping as he walked past the female. She looked up, and cocked a brow towards the somewhat stunned copy mage. "It is her.." Luke thought to himself. "But..."  
"What ya looking at?" Maggie retorted. She sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've come here to mess with my head too?"  
Her comments stunned Luke even more. "She really doesn't know. This has to be the effects of the spell he used back during the apocalypse. That means, all of Tartaros is still alive somewhere, right? Arc..."  
Luke then spoke towards Maggie. "Miss Amelia right? I'm a big fan of Sorcière Warehouse. You do a marvelous job in your work."  
Maggie sneered. "Cut the flattery. I don't do anything but spend the money Kemuri makes." She stood from her seat, and began walking past the now blonde haired male. "Leave me alone, I'm busy right now."  
Luke nodded as he went back into his thoughts. "It's dangerous for her to be alive, let alone here. But it seems something is blocking her memory. I wander if Warren knows anything about that?"

.

The four mages slid in opposite directions away from the demon. It stood it's ground, cutting it's eyes back and forth to keep it's mark on it's new targets. Evanee was up first as she charged the demonic being. As Evanee neared it, stones began to form around the demon's left arm. Evanee slid into melee range, and fired a hard right hook; a right hook that was easily parried by the stone arm. She clenched her teeth from the painful stalemate. The demon then reared it's arm back, and fired it straight down, looking to smash the Ace of Twilight Zone to the ground. Evanee quickly cuts a backflip to dodge the blow. Once finishing the flip, she found herself standing in a small crater that was created from the stone fist. She crouched quickly to avoid an incoming horizontal swing for her head. She spotted an opening, and then slammed an elbow into the demon's abdomen. The grin she held on her face quickly turned into one of shock as the demon stood unaffected. It quickly grabbed Evanee by her right shoulder, the strength of it's grip causing her to wince. Lifting the ace off her feet, the stone demon then opened it's mouth, an accumulation of stones forming within it. Evanee tried to struggle out, but it was to no avail. Before the demon could fire however, Tristan slid between them both in his steel make stance. "Steel-make: Morning Star!" In his hands, formed a pole with a giant ball at the end; the ball covered with large spikes. Tristan quickly gained momentum, and then slammed the spiked ball into the chin of the demon, forcing it's mouth shut and the release of Evanee. As the vortex that the demon was about to fire explodes in it's mouth, Evanee leaps away a great deal, the opposite way of Tristan to avoid the radius of the explosion. She landed next to Sidney who was now giving her a stare.  
"...You better be stronger than that." Sidney stated. Evanee turned her attention to the ghost mage. "Excuse me?"  
"If you're holding back, stop it. If not, go home, because that demon was about to kill you."  
Angered, Evanee opened her mouth to speak, yet before she could, Sidney disappeared in a puff of white smoke. As the demon stood in the middle of the clearing debris and smoke from his own attack, Sidney appeared in front of it. The demon's attention was now on Sidney. It reared it's stone covered arm back, and swung it towards the ace of White Eclipse. A magic seal appeared under Sidney, and before the fist could connect, Sidney takes on a transparent form, causing the stone fist to pass right through him. Sidney then rears back his ow right fist, and crouches. Once back in plain sight, Sidney fired a hard uppercut to the demon's chin, causing it to teeter backwards a few steps. While it was teetering, Tristan appeared behind it along with Erza. He swung his Morning Star once again, this time jumping into the air, just over the demon. Erza held her giant black sword that she usually used with her purgatory armor, and swung the sword against the back of the demon's legs. Tristan complimented her attack by adding a swinging Morning Star to the face of the demon as well, knocking it of it's feet as it slammed hard into the ground. Not to be outdone, Evanee leaped high into the air. "Dark Ray!" She then fires a powerful ray of Darkness Magic from her hand towards the demon, causing a well sized explosion of dark magic upon impact. With a smirk on her face, Evanee landed next to Sidney once again as they all waited for the aftermath of their attacks. "...!" Erza's eyes widened as the demon stood once again, it's body completely covered in stones.  
"We're gonna be here a while." Tristan says as his Morning Star disappears.  
"That's fine." Sidney replied. "As long as we get the job done."  
Evanee glared towards the demon, who cut it's eyes back towards her. She was the last one to attack it, so it's focus was now on the nymph mage. The two beings exchanged glares, until Evanee nodded once, causing the demon to turn to her completely. "Let me give it a shot, alone."  
"Are you insane?" Erza asked her. "It's taking all four of us to-"  
"Let her do it." Sidney says as he cuts Erza off. "It's her funeral if she loses."  
Evanee grins, dismissing the last comment as she stepped towards the demon. It returned the grin with a low growl of it's own. Evanee then whispered to herself. "I'm not holding back, you're the ones holding me back."

.

Back in the top floor's safe room, Rylo stood in a now empty room. The only thing left inside was a few tied up bags. "Thank the gods for my assistant." The magician says as she appeared, standing in a long red dress. She wore red gloves that slid all the way down to her elbows and red heels on her feet. She was a manifestation from pure Slight of Hand magic. An original creation mage by Rylo himself; his assistant. She grabbed a bag full of money and disappeared, only to reappear again empty handed. Rylo watched with content as she repeated this process until all the bags were gone. Once they were, his assistant bowed, and then took her leave, vanishing into nothing. Rylo then took a look around the empty room with a grin. "Okay, now back to the mission." He stated. He then opened the door slowly, and once noted that the coast was clear, began making his way down the hallway. "So far so good. Hopefully no ones been caught yet." On cue, Rylo nearly loses his footing from the rumble of a small explosion below him. "What the!?"

A floor below, Leon and Natsu stood in front of some thugs who were now on the floor unconscious. Leon then turned to Natsu, agitated. "Idiot! Your attacks are too loud! I said subdue them!"  
Natsu then pointed to the hole in the wall next to him as he raised his voice, yelling past his scarf that covered his mouth. "Says the guy who burned through the wall with his acid! Who knows who heard us now!" The two bumped heads, snarling until Leon finally backed up, snapping out of his quarrel with Natsu. "Lets get out of here before we're spotted." Still huffing a bit, Natsu nodded. "Aye. The chair isn't here anyways."

Down on the second floor, a few thugs could feel the quake above them. Immediately they looked at each other. "You check it out, I'll warn the boss." The bigger one suggested. The smaller one nodded and began running up the stairs. They both knew that no one was allowed past the first floor and their instructions were to notify Kemuri or Tiny the minute anything suspicious went on. The smaller of the thugs began running up the stairs, and halfway up, he spotted Natsu and Leon, who also saw the thug as well. All three of them stopped, blinking at one another in the awkward moment. He didn't expect Natsu Dragneel to be in front of him. Natsu and Leon were merely reacting to the thugs action. He tried to turn and run, but Leon quickly cut the thug off. The thug turned around once more, only to run into a Natsu head butt, ko'ing him instantly. "I'm sure we've been spotted by now." Natsu says.  
"What gave it away?" Leon replied with the utmost sarcasm. Still, Natsu replied. "The guy coming up the stairs."  
Leon cut his eyes towards the Salamander, and then shook his head. He then began jogging down the stairway to the second floor, Natsu right behind him.

"I just thought about something." Gajeel says as he folds his arms.  
"What's that?" Takeru replies as he peers around the corner to see if anyone was in the way of their next destination.  
"Why are we looking for blueprints? We should just leave that alone. If the council gets them, then more people will have their magic copied just like that Skye girl."  
"I wasn't looking for blueprints anyways." Takeru says as the two quietly slide against the wall, making their way to the next door. "If I see the chair, I'll destroy it. After that, we're done right?"  
Gajeel nodded. "Yeah." Following Takeru, Gajeel kept moving until the two dragon slayers entered the next door; another empty bedroom. "How many bed rooms does this guy have?" Takeru asked. He then shuts the door, and the two keep moving silently.

Back downstairs, Taya reluctantly sat with the unattractive male who had the key switch on him. The two sat alone at a table away from the crowd yet still in plain sight. Taya looked up to see Selene in her sights, giving her a quizzical look. Ignoring the talkative thug in front of her, Taya then contacted Warren to reach Selene. "I found the key switch. It's with this guy I'm talking to. I need a distraction so no one will notice him disappearing."  
Selene nodded from her position, and looked around to see what she could do. Just then, Lucy began walking by her, sighing. Her eyes were closed as she huffed out her annoyance. "I just want to leave now. We've been here way too long." The celestial mage stated. Just then, a dark grin came across Selene's face, and as Lucy passed her, she stuck her foot out in her path at the last second, causing Lucy to trip. Immediately her eyes widened as began falling forward. "Careful!" Selene yelled as she feigned a reach for Lucy. What she really did, was take her index finger, hooking around the strap of her dress on the right shoulder.  
"Tch, I saw that Selene." Gray huffs to himself as Lucy was now seen on the ground after a loud thud. He then looked towards where Lucy fell, spotting the celestial mage on her rear. Gray froze, as did everyone else in the room as they turned their attention towards Lucy.  
"Ow..." Lucy whimpers as she rubs her lower back in pain. She then looks up to see a sea of thugs staring her way. "What's everyone looking at?" She asked. She then looked over towards Selene, who stared as well, except in a different kind of shock. "I didn't want it to go down that far.." Selene mumbled. Luke's eyes widened as well, staring in disbelief.  
"What?" Lucy looked down, now noticing her exposed chest just sitting in her bra. Her face turned a complete red as she let out an extremely loud scream of embarrassment, trying to cover herself in the process. "Hey there!"  
"Move out the way! Help her up!"  
Quickly, Lucy was surrounded by thugs, backing away as they mindlessly cornered her.  
"Love...rival...! She did that for Gray-Sama!" Juvia shouted. Fortunately, everyone was fixated on Lucy that no one but the ice maker heard her. Gray sweat dropped. "No...she didn't."  
On the other side, Taya took note of the distraction, taking the time to grin at Lucy's disposition before turning to the thug in front of her. "Hey." She said, cutting off his rambling. "Why don't we, take this conversation to a more private area?" Her seductive tone caused him to grin. "Don't mind if we do, doll face." The thug replied. They both stood from their table, walking down the hallway, away from the unsuspecting crowd. As the walked down the hallway, the thug once again had his hand on the small of Taya's spine, causing her to internally shiver in disgust. "This way~" she sung to him, opening the random room. He followed behind her with an excited nature, closing the door behind him. Seconds later...Taya walked back out, stuffing the key switch in her clutch before shutting the door behind her. She then grinned as she walked back into the main room, the bracelet no longer on her wrist. "He didn't last long."

Second floor, Natsu stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the scream, just barely through all the closed door that led to the first floor staircase. "That was Lucy.."  
Leon stopped as well. "...Don't even think about it. We don't know what could of happened-" Before Leon could finish negotiation, Natsu took off at a determined speed. "Natsu!" Leon yelled, but to no avail as The Salamander turned the corner to head for the stairwell. In front of him were a group of thugs in the way. They turned to him in surprise. "How did you get up here!?"  
"Never mind that! Get him!"  
"Out of my way!" Natsu yelled, rearing his right fist backwards. He then followed through, firing a wave of his fire dragon slaying magic. He nearly destroyed the entire hallways, knocking each thug out the way and unconscious. Natsu began running once again, only to have Leon grab him by the back of his collar, slamming him into the ground. Once the smoke cleared, Leon held the angered Natsu down, snarling in annoyance. "I said stop! We don't know what's going on down there! It could of been something innocent!"  
"I don't want to wait and find out!" Natsu yelled back. "So let me go!"  
Clenching his teeth, Leon spouted once more. "Dummy! You've already jeopardized this mission! Doesn't you guild teach you anything about priorities!"  
"Yes!" Natsu replied. "Obviously yours doesn't! Who puts their friends over a mission!"  
He froze for a second, his grip loosening from Natsu's words, but before Natsu could escape he tightened his grip again. "Don't do that again..." The acid dragon slayer said in an ominous tone.  
"I'm going to! Until I get free I'll fight you off!"  
"That's not what I meant.." Natsu looked over after Leon responded, seeing a completely different demeanor on him. "Don't question my guild's priorities again." He then glared towards Natsu, his hair covering on eye as the other pierced through The Salamander's soul it felt like. "We aren't weak like your guild. We've never had to worry about one another because we know our guild mates can handle it, so watch what you say. Things like that really get me angry, and acid and rage don't go together."  
Natsu stopped moving, only to return his own glare towards Leon, the intense moment broken up by an incoming line of thugs running their way. "There they are! Don't let them escape." They both stood up, giving each other one last glare before readying for a fight.

Back on the first floor, Kemuri sat across from a restrained Reve, who was surrounded by Kemuri's best men, including his right hand, Tiny. Kemuri sat there, leaning his head on his folded hands. "So...you're here for the chair of course, because Siegrain sent you on such a mission. Such a suicidal one. That clown doesn't know who he's messing with."  
Reve curled his lip in disgust. "I don't know where you got such information from. I didn't say anything about Siegrain or the council for that matter. I came here to destroy it because those reckless idiots killed someone close to me with theirs. No one should have one."  
Kemuri paused for a bit, and then waved the gunslinger off. "Come off it you shit. That may be true, but we know you and your posse are working for the council. Since Siegrain came here and warned us himself."  
Reve's eyes widened for a quick second, retracting the next to try and hide it. "I should of known something like that from him would happen." He thought to himself.  
As he was in thought, Tiny appeared back to Kemuri's side, handing him a file. "So this is an open and shut case huh? All you want, is what you're sitting in right now. Tell me, how much do you think guns requip magic will go for once it's been turned into lacrima, Reve Volver?"  
"How did you?"  
Kemuri laughed at the stunned mage. "You're with the big boys now fella! This is Sorcière Warehouse! You think this was built off of one trade? There's nothing we don't have, hold, or borrow in Fiore!" Kemuri then turned to one of his other men, a fair height man with maroon colored hair. "What do you say Rocky? How much for such a rare magic?"  
He began pondering to himself, holding up fingers as he calculated. "I'd say about fifty million a pop boss."  
Kemuri let out a low whistle. "You can shoot me over the top with those numbers Volver."  
Before he could continue, the thug from the first floor quickly ran inside the room, shutting the door behind him. "Boss!"  
Kemuri held a hand out. "Let me guess. Intruders?"  
Tiny then interrupted. "No time to be so slack, Junior. Everyone, spread out on the floors and find them. Don't let them on the first floor, it'll cause the I the mobs to panic since they can't use magic."  
"Right sir!" With that, the six men in the room exited. Kemuri turned his attention back to Reve. "You sit there for a while, while I make sure everything is going smoothly alright?" Kemuri then pushed Reve's face as he walked by, exiting along with Tiny, back to the party.

"First things first." Taya says to herself as she began walking to her closest partners for this mission, Trinity and Taranis. "To get the bracelets off." Before she took another step, she saw the doors Reve went through open, six men filing out and then up the main stairs. She held her wrists behind her back to hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a bracelet as they passed. After them, Kemuri and Tiny walked out as well. As Kemuri made his way around the room, mingling, Tiny made a direct line for the dark vector mage. "Tch." She scoffed to herself before he could arrive to hear. Once there, the right hand gave her a grin. "How is everything miss?" Tiny asked. Taya gave a half hearted smile and a shrug of the shoulders. "Just another get together you know? When's the meeting going to actually commence?"  
Tiny chuckled a bit. "You know how the boss is. He wants everything to be perfect, and we've ran into some technical difficulties with our...presentation."  
Taya read him like a book; or did she? It was painfully obvious what Tiny was talking about, and Taya knew, but she could tell that it seemed too easy. "What's he getting at?" She asked herself. "So is our boss still with you guys?" She asked in response to his statement. Tiny nodded. "He said he had to use the men's room, so we pointed him to the closest one." With that, he turned and began walking away, only to look back once more. "Enjoy your time with others until then."

.

She started with a slow, tmethodical walk, the demon mirroring her steps as they glued their direct line of vision to each other. "She does seem different now, now that she's alone." Tristan says as he folds his arms. "Still." Erza adds. "I can't believe in such a serious mission, we're allowing her to take it on by herself.  
"Well that's the difference between us and you, no offense."  
Erza quirked a brow at Tristan's statement. "What do you mean?"  
"It's simple. One thing Black Phoenix and Twilight Zone have in common is, that even though we love our family, we understand the importance of self."  
"The importance of self?" Erza blinked, confused by his words.  
"The importance of self. It's one thing to call on your family when you're in trouble, but it's a completely different thing to continuously use them for strength. Even if they are family, borrowing someone else's strength will never compensate for not having enough of your own. Everyone's potential is limitless, but you can't even begin to explore such limits without trying on your own. We all have different paths, and to borrow someone else's strength continuously is to veer off your own path. It's almost as if you want to be them, when you're supposed to be yourself. Ultimately, the power of nakama is great, but it's a scapegoat that a lot of guilds get wrapped into, causing them to forget their own abilities and potential. In the end, it causes them to perform a phantom fight, subconsciously losing on purpose, no matter the level of threat, just so he or she can call upon their friends will for assistance. That's where we differ." Tristan then raised his voice a bit for Sidney to hear in case he wasn't listening. "White Eclipse used to be like us, until they met you guys."  
Erza stared at Tristan, his words hitting deep as she gave a lost expression. She then lowered her head, covering her eyes as she gave but a simple whimper. "None of that is true..."  
Before Tristan could respond again, the fight was underway. Evanee and the stone demon were in a tie up, the ground breaking under them as neither side planned on backing down. Once a crater was formed, Evanee released her left hand, causing the demon to teeter forward from it's own momentum. With her free hand, she slammed a roaring uppercut to it's jaw. Now teetering backwards, the demon attempted to throw Evanee around with it's left hand still connected to her right. It was able to lift her off the ground, but as it slung her away, she quickly recovered into a flip, landing on the ground and leaving a footprint sized crater before taking off once again. "Turris Inferno." By slamming her fist against the ground, Evanee summoned forth several towers of a darkened rock that surrounded the stone demon. The blood red cores of each pillar drew in magical energy from below, and focused it into concentrated beams. The beams then fired one by one towards the demon. It tried to block the first one with its stone arms, only for the beams to knock it off it's feet. The demon tumbled until kipping back up to it's feet. It then new not to touch the others as it rushes towards the nymph mage, dodging the other beams in the process. Once it was close, the stones on it's arms broke off, and the fired towards Evanee. With a cocky smirk, she merely swayed away from the seemingly endless barrage, putting on a show for the other mages.  
"She does seen a lot better...a lot stronger than when we attacked together." Erza began shaking her head frantically, causing Tristan to smirk. "That's not right... This goes against everything I've learned. No one's stronger when fighting alone!"  
Dodging one last projectile, Evanee ducked and then lunged forward and upward towards the head of the demon. She quickly covered the space, and in a flash, she was in front of it with another smirk. "Constellational Stream." All in the span of a second, she lifted her hands into the air, gathering a summation of magic at her palms. Evanee then fires a highly concentrated and powerful beam of light energy at point blank range to the head, the beam consuming the demon whole as it traveled into the nearest broken building.  
"R-ruthless!" Tristan said, caught off guard by the attack. Erza too watched with wide eyes as Sidney merely nodded in appreciation. Evanee landed on her feet, and then turned her head back towards Sidney. "Strong enough?" She asked rhetorically. Such smug statements never bothered Sidney, but Evanee took it as a win anyways, until...  
From the point of impact, the remainder of the stone building the beam crashed into began to fall. Once it fell, noises of stones breaking was still being heard even though the building was completely ruined. Everyone looked over to the clouded area. "There's no way it survived.." Evanee says as she looked on.  
"Not only did it survive! It's eating!" Tristan yelled. "How did we forget such a thing!?" Erza exclaimed. The smoke cleared, and the demon picked up one more chunk of stone, gulping it down easily. Suddenly, it bulked up a bit as it's major wounds seemed to disappear. It stood still for a few seconds.  
"...Shit!" Sidney then turned back to Evanee. "Move!"  
"Huh?" Evanee was completely off guard as the stone demon appeared in front of her in a blur, now towering over her as she stood there off balance. With it's stone covered arm, these stones bigger than the last, the demon swung straight down, crashing it's fist on the top of the nymph mage's head, causing Erza to shake in fear and shock as Evanee crashed head first into the ground, being violently sandwiched by the unforgiving ground and the stone fist.

.

Rem and Mason were still on the third floor. Inside the room at the end hallway, the two ventured through the dark space that was an office. "You sure this is it?" Rem asked the mischief mage. Mason nodded. "I'm sure. The top floor is too obvious." Rem nodded in agreement as they shuffled through the desk drawers and cabinets. After a few minutes of rummaging, Mason triumphantly held the roll of blueprints over his head. "Told ya!"  
Rem looked over, grinning at the find. He then placed two fingers to his temples. "Warren, tell Lahar we found the blueprints. All that's left is the chair."  
"Right!" Warren exclaimed, easily relaying the message to Lahar. Lahar then replied back through Warren. "Good! Now all you have to do is find and destroy the chair.  
Stay hidden however, until Tayakata and the others are free to use magic again. You're still lacking in numbers."  
"Yeah, about that." Mason said with a sheepish grin. "I'm pretty sure Natsu already notified everyone that we were here.."  
Lahar gave a long sigh. "...I'm not surprised.."

"She was able to slide in the room before Natsu and Leon began wreaking havoc on the second floor. Though she saw the whole thing, her mind was completely fixated on what the supposed Dante said to her earlier. "I'm here. This better not be some game to get me alone. You men are nothing but pigs after all." "But my dear Maggie." He said as he music from a piano began playing. Dante was the one playing, sitting in front of the moonlit window. At first what was a random press of the keys, turned into an actual melody. One that rung familiar in her ears. "That's exactly why I called you here. Just so we can be alone."  
"That melody.. It almost sounds familiar...but why do you keep calling me Maggie?"  
Dante gives a genuine smile, keeping his vision forward as he kept playing. "You love this melody Maggie. I remember you used to say sometimes when we were younger. 'Play The Bolero of Fire, it's the only one I like.' Heh.." He lifted his head up some as he began getting into the melody. "I remember you wouldn't even let Rugal touch the piano, because when you asked him to play it, he would always mess it up. You even tried to teach Sora just so you could listen to it whenever you wanted. She always did what you and Kiora wanted..."  
"Rugal...Sora...Kiora..?" Maggie stood near the door with a blank visage. "Everything sounds familiar, yet so foreign..."  
"But you know who played this for you the best? That damned Taya." He chuckled a bit at his statement. "She had the magic touch for some reason when it came to your favorite melody. How she did it, I have no clue. I was a close second though."  
"Taya..? Okay, who are you!?"  
Maggie yelled in question. Upon her question, he stopped playing, and closed the piano. "You're asking the wrong question. Who are /you?/ That's what you want to know." He rose from his seat, slowly walking towards her as she backed to the door, he back now against it as she hesitantly spoke. "I..I know who I am..! My name is Amelia! I am-"  
"Amelia who?" He asked, drawing  
ever so closer. "D-don't interrupt me! I'm the first lady of Sorcière Warehouse! I can have your life ended in seconds!"  
As Dante came closer, his hair started to change colors, as if a spell was holding it up. From blonde to black, as his eyes turned from blue to raven as well. He then reached for Maggie, slowly as he grinned. "It's time to come home.

Maggie."


	5. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Strings Attached.

"Let all your troubles escape you." He grinned, placing an index finger on her head, right between her eyes. In his left hand, from his back pocket he pulled out a book, now holding it open as he softly chanted a few words.  
"What..." She spoke in a weakened tone.  
Daityas then removed his finger, a small black magic seal appearing where his finger once was. "Look at you. This isn't Maggie at all. Why is your hair up?" He then reached for the pins in her hair, slowly pulling them out as her white hair fell to her shoulders. "There."  
She stood there, in a trance like state the magic seal began to spin. "We have a long road ahead of us Maggie, but the longer lava stays dormant, the stronger it becomes right? So who knows what you're capable of now. Well, I know, and everyone in the building will soon find out."

Gray began rotating his wrist, now free of the bracelet that restrained him. The group stood around Taya as she unlocked Luke's, the next to last one who was constricted by the bracelets. "That's everybody but Lucy and Reve right?" Taya asked. Everyone looked around and nodded. "I can tell this situation is is more dangerous than it seems now. Reve is beyond those doors. My guess is that they know we're fakes, and they captured him. Only reason we're free is because the boss doesn't want to start a riot."  
"So what's the plan?" Gray asked.  
Taya then nodded once. "Gray, you and the boys stay within the room for now. Keep your sleeves up so they don't realize that your bracelets are missing. Aira and Selene, with me." She then tosses the key switch to Gray. "Once Lucy is free from the dogs, unlock her's and then join us. We're headed for Reve. And by the way, no matter who attacks us, don't help."  
Gray raised a brow, but in the end, he and the others nodded in aggreement. "I have someone who can help as well... She wasn't supposed to come but..." Gray sighed, and then looked behind him, already knowing where she was. She was facing the other way, but she was well aware of what was going on. "Juvia.."  
"Juvia is here to help!" She said enthusiastically, dropping the tray she carried on the nearest table.  
"It's going to be hard to fight in a dress." Aira stated as the four females began walking to the door. Selene nodded.  
"It's only until we find Reve. We'll find time to change afterwards."  
Selene looked over towards Taya after the statement. "You're winging this aren't you?" Taya merely grinned as they continued walking.  
"Hey!" A thug turned around, causing the others to as well. "You can't go in there, we all have to wait." Taya merely waved the man off, causing him to lose his short temper. "No woman is gonna disregard me!" He quickly walked over, grabbing the dark vector mage he the shoulder. Once touched, Taya gave a dark smirk, and a magic seal appeared under the thug. From the seal, two vectors shot upward in a clockwise spin, lifting the thug into the air and against the ceiling. He fell unconscious, causing a thud back to the ground. This caused the entire room to turn towards the commotion. With everyone distracted, Gray slid past the crowd and unlocked Lucy's bracelet. "Thanks!" The celestial blonde stated to the ice maker as he helped her away from the crowd. Gray then called for Taya, and tossed the switch over; the dark vector mage catching it before turning back to the door.  
On the other side of the room, Tiny and Kemuri watched quietly. They foresaw this coming, but what they didn't put into account was them finding the key to the bracelet so fast and taking it. "Your move junior. It's still a chess game, but it's getting a bit hostile now. You're backed into a corner. Those pawns are cornering ya right now. You'z need to make a move and soon before they checkmate ya, but it better be the right one, or you'z gonna make a fatal mistake." Tiny looked over to Kemuri, who bared his teeth in annoyance for a few seconds. He then calmed down, giving a smirk. "Let em have it. Worst case scenario, we have the blueprints that idiot council leader left."  
Tiny shook his head. "Junior, why do you think there are mages upstairs? Just to cause chaos within your estate huh?"  
Kemuri looked to Tiny. A few seconds later it hit. His eyes widened. "They were after the blueprints the whole time!?"  
Tiny nodded twice. "Now, lets not panic. We know you'z can take them all down alone, but lets think here. Put in the worst case scenario."  
"They've found the blueprints, and now they're going after the chair." Kemuri recited, as if he actually knew. "So our new focus is stopping these worms from destroying our golden ticket to the top."  
"Right." Tiny nodded once more. "And how do you plan on doing that with your best men on the second floor and higher?"  
Kemuri pondered..running out of time as Taya opened the door to the other room. "Use the other mafia's best men? At least for a distraction?"  
"..I can't hold your hand forever junior. The women of the so called Underground no longer have magic restraints as you saw. That means the guys don't either. I'm sure you'z got it from here." Tiny replied. Kemuri gave a scoff at his tone, and then aimed both palms to the floor. A magic seal appeared below each palm, and from those seals, a bundle of strings fired out like bullets, slamming into and through the ground. The noise caught Aira's ear as she was the last one at the door. "Uh, Taya?"  
"Whatever it is Aira, the boys got it." Taya replied as the girls walked in, immediately spotting Reve sitting in their objective. "Reve!" She ran over, the others waiting at the beginning of the room.  
"What took y'all so long?" He asked cooly. Taya gave him an annoyed look. One that turned into a grateful visage. "I can tell by your snobby response that you still have your magic?" She asked as she began unlocking the restraints to the chair.  
"Yeah I'm fine." Reve stood from the chair, and requipped a sawn off style celestial gun into his hands. "More importantly, we found our mission objective, so lets destroy this thing and get out of here."  
"Please." Selene says. "I'm completely over this formal yet illegal meeting. I could be home right now."  
"Okay shut up Serene." Reve replied in an annoyed tone.  
"It's...! Never mind just destroy it."  
Reve took aim, but before he could start charging the blast, Gray, Luke Taranis and Trinity walked in. "What are you guys doing? Did you subdue everyone?" Taya asked. She didn't get an answer from anyone. Taya and Reve squinted while the other three looked on unaware. "You guys alright?" Aira asked. "Hey Luke." Aira walked over to the copy mage, waving a hand in front of his face. Luke then grabbed her wrist, causing her to flinch. "What are you doing!?"  
"Something's wrong!" Selene says as she stays on the defensive. "Aira get away from them!"  
Aira continued to try and pull away, finally breaking free after slamming an open palm to the Copy mage's sternum. No one moved as Aira leaped away. With shadows over their eyes, the boys, excluding Reve, stood there mindlessly. Behind them, Kemuri and Tiny stepped inside. Tiny walked in with his hands folded behind his back. Kemuri on the other hand, still held his hands a little bit above his waist, his fingers moving ever so slightly yet consistently. "It's been a while since I controlled so many people at once. I'ma need more training huh? Four is a lot for a puppet mage though, some can only get two on a good day."  
"What did you do to Gray-Sama!?" Juvia yelled. Kemuri began laughing. "Gray? Hmm...which one is Gray?"  
Juvia then pointed towards him. "That one! That one is Gray-Sama!"  
"Juvia no!" Taya exclaimed, but it was too late as she already revealed the one she was concerned for. A wide grin then appeared on his face as he lifted his right index finger, and as if a puppet string was being tugged, Gray moved, sliding into his ice maker stance. Without chanting, gray slammed his now frigid hands into the ground, creating a trail of icy spikes that led right for Juvia. She stood in shock as they came for her, having to be tackled out of the way by Aira. "Are you alright?" The wind mage asked. Before Juvia could answer, Kemuri bent his left pinky, and Luke was now moving. The copy mage lifted his right hand, a small ball of white magic forming in his palm.  
"...Everyone down." Was Reve's only words as they scattered out of the way the second Luke threw the White God's bomb. The explosion was sent forward, leaving the chair unharmed as the mages went tumbling away from it. This was Tiny's cue. He nonchalantly walked over to the chair and with a single yank, pulled the bolted chair out of the ground, now carrying it out of the room and handing it to some thugs. "If anything happens to this chair, you all will be unemployed permanently, got that?"  
Back inside, as Tiny slipped back in and watched, Kemuri kept a grin as the mages returned to their feet. "Alright, that was a good warm up."  
"Warm up? He didn't do anything. He's just controlling them!" Lucy says to herself as she reaches for a key. "Wait...I can't hurt them. They're on our side. This is bad..!"  
"What's the matter!? Don't want to attack your own buds here? That's strange, they don't have a problem attacking you!" Off his statement, Kemuri began moving all of his fingers easily, causing the four he controlled to take off towards their own comrades. "And now with my fingers loose, you're all gonna die by your own friend's hands. How do you feel!?"

.

.  
The demon removed it's fists from the ground and Evanee. She laid there, unmoving and unconscious. Tristan and Erza watched on with widened eyes, stunned at what just happened.  
"She wanted this." Sidney said to himself, folding his arms over. "Still, that demon didn't just replenish his strength when he devoured the stones, he became stronger and faster; probably wiser too. We need to finish this quickly. Which I will do once it's done with Twilight Zone's ace."  
On cue, the demon reared it's head upward, and in it's mouth, a spiral of stones appeared. It was preparing another oral attack. "She's in trouble!" Erza yelled. Tristan immediately went into his steel make stance. "Steel make...!" Everything slowed down as the Black Phoenix ace came to a realization. "...I'm not gonna make it in time! She's done!"  
Still, Tristan kept his stance, hoping for a miracle. That miracle didn't come from him as the demon then lurched it's head down, firing a near point blank Stone Demon's Howl upon Evanee, consuming the entire crater, only to make it deeper due to the force of the blow. Sidney looked on as it happened. "Pretty fast for just an S class..."  
What Sidney referred to, as the smoke cleared from the howl, was Erza now standing in her completely shattered Adamantine armor. Prior to saving Evanee, she charged in using her flight armor to gain speed, quickly switching to provide a defense for them both as she took on the attack alone. Erza now teetered in place, keeping her blurry vision focused on the demon, who mercilessly reared another arm back. This time, before it could swing downward, Sidney appeared again, in another puff of smoke on it's shoulder. He grabbed it's cocked arm, and jumped off it's shoulder, behind the demon, dragging it off it's feet and down to the ground. The loud thud was followed by a call from the ghost mage. "Steel maker.."  
"Already on it." Tristan replied as he teleported, now floating above the pinned down demon. "Steel make: geyser!"  
The demon flung Sidney off of him, the White Eclipse mage flipping into recovery as he lands on his feet safely. Before the demon could move, Tristan landed palms first on it's abdomen, and from there, a giant, spiky geyser of steel formed, piercing right through the stone demon as it shot it in the air. The demon now hung there at the top of the geyser, unmoving as Erza helped the awakening Evanee up to her feet. Once she realized where she was, Evanee yanked away from Erza, somewhat standing on her own two feet. "I got it."  
"Job well done guys." Tristan says as he dusts his hands off. "It gave us a run, but we handled it." Erza nodded, reverting back to her standard armor.  
"Lets return to Lahar and let him know we're done." Sidney says as he walks out of the crater, Tristan, Erza and Evanee behind him. Once Evanee was out, she fell to her knees again, holding herself up with her palms. Sidney looked back once, then shook his head, not saying anything about it. "I wonder what the reward will be?" Tristan asked as they began walking. "The reward is that we don't have to work for them anymore." Sidney replied. The two continued their conversation, Sidney with short responses as Erza stood there, waiting on Evanee.  
"...I don't need you to wait on me." The ace said in annoyance. Erza placed a hand on her hip, rolling her eyes once at Evanee's attitude. "I'm choosing to. So the quicker you make it to your feet the better." Evanee scoffed, then began pushing up to her feet. She wobbled again, but held her ground. "Shut up.."  
Erza shook her head, and then somewhat limped towards the leaving Sidney and Tristan. She took a few steps and then stopped. Evanee froze as well as they both heard movement. They both turned around to see the demon literally pulling himself out of the spiky tower. It's red eyes were once again visible as it finally pulled himself out. "Guys..!" Erza called out shakily as the demon's thud once it landed on the ground was louder. Both Tristan and Sidney turned around, eyes now fixated on the demon who stood with the hole in it's abdomen. That hole didn't last long, as a stone from inside the demon shifted, covering the hole like it was it's new skin. Everyone was on guard as the demon spotted it's opponents once more; yet instead of attacking, the demon looked to the sky, as if something was calling for it.  
"Oi! Ya bloody wanker! What are you doing, making that awful noise!?"  
"You better get used to this noise, Maggie. It's how you call your pet."  
"Pet?"  
"You'll see, it's not far from here, so we'll give it about twenty minutes tops."  
This was the conversation that took place back at the meeting, unknowing to the mages. A high pitched call was being performed. One that only caught the demon's ears, and immediately it took off...southward.  
Sidney's eyes lit up immediately, and he was the first one to take off behind the demon along with Tristan. Erza looked back at Evanee.  
"Go...! They'll need you!" The ace exclaimed towards Erza. The scarlet haired hesitantly nodded, and then took off running behind them.  
"Come on Evanee." She said to herself as her legs shook. "I've sacrificed emotion for strength and compassion for security. Power may not be all I know, but it's all I trust." Almost like a quote she spoke these words. She then crouched, and then took off sprinting, kicking up the ground underneath her on the takeoff. Wincing, yet ignoring the pain, she caught up to the mages in a matter of seconds, still behind the fleeing demon. Sidney looked back, not saying a word, then focused back to the demon running. "Maybe she's someone worth fighting after all."

.

.  
Third floor. A raven haired male with a beige suit walked down the supposedly empty halls. He looked around as he continued forward, finally stopping in front of a random door, yet facing away from it. "Come out come out. Don't tell me I'm the one who picked the one corridor with no trespassers on it." As he stood there, behind him, through the door, a shadow appeared, phasing through. It was Takeru, and he reached for the male in front of him. At the last second the male saw Takeru and within that second he phased away from him, appearing feet away as Takeru grabbed nothing but air. "Tch." Takeru took his normal form again as Gajeel unnecessarily kicked the door down. "How did you miss!? No matter! Lets rumble, I've been itching all day!"  
Takeru stayed silent as he slid into a fighters stance. Gajeel did the same, but the second he was ready, the male appeared before him, and slammed a kick right into Gajeel's jaw. The Iron Dragon Slayer teetered. Takeru turned to see what happened, and as he did, the man then appeared behind Takeru with a smirk, and then a hard punch to the spine. Takeru hit the wall but quickly turned around to the yawning male. "He's like Doranbolt. Phasing around every which way is going to be a problem in such close quarters."  
The male then pointed to himself. "Introductions are necessary so pardon the interruption. Name's Lot. Short for Lotheil. And you are?"  
"About to whoop your ass!" Gajeel yelled as he ran towards him. Lot merely grinned as the Black Steel reared his fist back. "Well then, if you want to be that rude."

Second floor, Mason and Rem were almost to the stairs with the blueprints in hand, trying to make it to the roof. They turned the corner to climb the stairs, only to find another male sitting on the eighth step.  
He had grayish red hair and wore a navy blue suit. He examined the two in front of them, noticing the blueprints in their hands. "Now you know I can't let you leave with those, or at all for that matter."  
Mason shrugged. "We didn't really leave that choice up to you, old ass."  
The male was taken back from the immediate disrespect by the youngster. "How dare you...do you know who I am? I'm Xavier, one of the six hands of Sorcière Warehouse. I'm going to show you to respect your elders." The man stood from his position, and opened his left palm. In his palm a magic seal appeared, followed by a miniature tornado that grew in size. The indoor tornado rushed towards the two, both of them diving into rooms to avoid contact as he spun down the hallway until it disappeared. "Alright fossil face." Mason said as he stepped back into the hallway. He then pulled out a slingshot from his back pocket.  
"A slingshot? And what are you gonna do with that you?" Xavier asked, chuckling as he waited. Mason pulled back, and at it's peak, a magic circle appeared. Xavier cocked a brow, Mason fired, and as the pellet in the slingshot fired through the magic circle, what was once a normal pellet turned into a fiery bullet. Xavier's eyes widened, and he leaned away from the incoming flame. Barely missing, the flaming bullet burned off some of his clothing from the shoulder. He sneered at Mason for ruining his attire, but as he paid attention to the mischievous mage, Rem slid behind the unaware mafia member. "He's too simple."

Confronting the incompatible duo on the stairs between the first and second floor, two mafia hands stood between Natsu and Leon and the first floor. The dark green haired, white suited male turned to Trey, the maroon haired headed, peach colored suited one. "Hey, Trey. Which one you want?"  
Trey turned back to the other hand. "I guess I'll take the pink haired one, Wilt." They both nodded in agreement. Natsu and Leon stood in front of them both. Natsu ignited his hands in flames as Leon began to purposely drip acid magic from his. "You guys picked the wrong dragon slayer." They spoke in unison, causing them to halt their intimidating demeanors. They then turned to each other, snarling and no longer focused on their opponents. Wilt shook his head, and activated a magic circle. From the circle under their feet, a range of spikes shot from the ground. Natsu and Leon barely stopped fighting in time to leap out the way. Once the landed again, they both turned back to their opponents. Trey then opened both of his hands as they created a magic seal in each palm. "Sorry fellas, but you two aren't getting past us."

Rocky made his way to the other side of the third floor. He was in a brisk walk, making his way to the safe room. "As the numbers man here, I should make sure the safe is okay. Not that anyone could get in anyways." As he walked to the door, he stopped short of it, then took a deep breath. "If it's been touched I know I'll get blamed for it. They always blame me."  
Rocky shuffled through his pockets, then pulled out a key. He placed it within the hole, but before he could turn the knob, he was suddenly taken off his feet. He landed on his back with a loud thud. Before he could grasp what was happening, he felt pressure on his chest. Enough pressure to keep him from moving as well. "Rocky..."  
His eyes widened, unsure who was talking until he finally appeared. Rylo was now visible again. It took Rocky a few, but he finally remembered the magician. "Rylo?"  
"Remember what you guys taught me Rocky? About being ruthless?"  
Rocky choked a bit before speaking. "How much did you take?"  
"All of it." Rylo replied. "And since I told you..." The Slight of Hand mage took off his top hat and aimed the opening towards Rocky's chest. "I can't let you leave my presence with the ability to snitch on me."  
The male's eyes widened again. "Rylo wait!"  
It was too late, a magic seal appeared under the hat, and then following that, a giant vortex of wind slammed into Rocky at point blank range, crashing through the floor. Rocky's unconscious and broken body ended up on the second floor. Rylo stood over the hole he created, then walked away from it, vanishing into nothing again as thugs ran past him to see what happened. "Who did this!?" A random thug cried out as they stared at the incapable Rocky.  
"Kemuri..."  
Rylo turned the corner, making his way to the vent shaft the entire team started from.  
"Your father is no longer here, this mission was fate. I'm going to make you pay.

For what you did

so long ago."


End file.
